On Nov. 7, Senior Dakota Savoie was named as an “athletic scholar”. He has been honored by Waldorf University to bowl with an athletic scholarship. Savoie has received a tremendous amount of money to help fund for his four-year college education. Other than bowling Savoie plans on majoring in criminal justice and having a minor in Spanish.

Upon receiving the scholarship, Savoie was very excited once he found out that he had received the scholarship. Savoie said,  “The hard work has finally paid off and I can now show everyone not just in Owatonna,but everywhere.”

Around 16 students will be honored with a similar scholarship to bowl for Waldorf University. The scholarship he has received is not solely based on his bowling, he has also earned a scholarship for his academics. The academic scholarship he has earned required him to meet certain academic standards for the school including ACT score and GPA. These scholarships students receive are intended to be beneficial when it comes to minimizing the expense burden on families.

Savoie’s passion for bowling started ten years ago when his grandparents took him to the dollar games at the Faribault bowling alley. Since then, bowling has sparked his interest. He now appreciates his involvement in bowling and the opportunities and skills it has given him.

Over the years of playing, Savoie has played numerous games all around Minnesota, he has placed in many of these tournaments, receiving scholarship money for the wins.This past summer he went to Texas to bowl for Junior Gold, a National bowling tournament that is very hard to compete in. As well as being recognized the past three years in a row as all-conference for varsity. He plans to continue to bowl throughout college and after hopefully earn some extra cash for playing.

His coach Scott Ferch has also recognized his excellence. Ferch said, “It’s always been a pleasure to be able to Coach Savoie. He is very coachable, loves the game, determined, great team player and is very easy to work with.” His team will always value the skills he has shown them and they will miss having his positive energy around.

Savoie and teammate sophomore Garrett LaPlount  qualified for as All- Conference for the South Central Conference. They will bowl on Nov. 24 in Burnsville.